The present invention relates to a holder for a data card and to a reader for reading/writing data from/to the data card. In particular, the present invention relates to a holder for a data card such as a subscriber identity module (SIM) which is designed to be used in conjunction with a reader of a radio communication device for wireless communication with a radio network.
Data cards take various forms and those used, for example, in cellular devices, may include passive memory cards (i.e. essentially a ROM), or an active processor card (i.e. capable of processing information internally within the card). An example of the latter is a smart card, which has a memory implemented as an integrated circuit in which information is stored. A smart card used extensively in GSM is the subscriber identity module (SIM). GSM specification 11.11 details the structure and functionality of SIM cards, but briefly a SIM card is a user removable module providing storage of subscriber related information. Notably, a SIM contains data fixed during the administration phase (e.g. the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) which unambiguously identifies a subscriber; a personal identification number (PIN) to provide protection against unauthorised use), temporary network data (e.g. LAI location area information) and service related data (e.g. language preference, advice of charge). In the proposed Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) standard, it is intended to have a User Service Identity Module (USIM) which is an application residing on the IC Card used for accessing UMTS services of a certain Service Provider and much like GSM SIMs shall contain sufficient information to identify the user and the Service Provider.
In GSM 11.11, two types of SIM cards are specified. The functionality of the SIM is the same for each, it is principally that the physical dimensions are different. One is a credit card size SIM, and the other is a plug in SIM about 15 mm by 20 mm. The rationale behind the different sizes is that the credit card size is perceived as a convenient size for the user from a practical standpoint. The plug-in SIM is intended to be semi-permanently installed in the cellular telephone. For example, in ordinary use, the SIM card could be located and used in a portable radio telephone handset; when the user is planning to travel in his car the SIM card can be removed from the handset and inserted into the radio telephone in the car.
Often cited problems with swapping the SIM card between different radio communication devices include the inconvenience and the length of time it takes to do so, and also the inherent xe2x80x98fiddle-factorxe2x80x99, i.e. awkwardness of having to manipulate the SIM so as to place it in the SIM reader. Such problems are compounded when a number of SIM cards are to be loaded/unloaded.
Against this background, an aspect of the present invention resides in a holder for two or more data cards for a radio communication device, the holder comprising a body having formations for releasably carrying said two or more data cards and being adapted to be removably installed in a data card reader of said device.
In accordance with this aspect of the invention, two or more data cards can be readily loaded in the holder and the holder easily installed in the data reader.
This not only avoids the need for a large number of mechanical parts associated with the data reader, but loading/unloading of the data cards is remote from the data card reader and is thus less awkward.
In a first embodiment, said formations are provided such that the two or more data cards when loaded in the body are carried in an oppositely facing back to back arrangement. Thus providing for economy of space.
Preferably, said formations are provided in said body by longitudinally extending slots for receiving said two or more data cards, and the body accordingly may include respective apertures for exposing electrical contacts of said data cards when loaded in the body.
In a second aspect, the present invention provides a radio communication device including a data card reader, the device having a housing defining an aperture associated with the reader and dimensioned to receive a data card holder carrying two or more data cards, the arrangement being such that the data card holder is removable from the reader, and wherein the data card holder is provided with formations for releasably carrying two or more data cards.
In one arrangement, the data card holder carries said two or more data cards in an oppositely facing arrangement, and the data card reader comprises two or more electrical circuits correspondingly arranged in facing relationship for reading the two or more data cards. In another arrangement, the data card holder carries said two or more data cards in a similarly facing arrangement, and the data card reader comprises one electrical circuit for reading the two or more data cards.
Optionally, the radio communication device comprises a cover member adapted to be disposed against said housing such that when a data card holder is located in the card reader the cover obstructs retraction of at least one of the two or more data cards.
Accordingly, two or more data cards can be loaded in the data reader and the cover plate, in a first position, covers one of the cards in the data card reader (or for example two of the cards if the reader contains three data cards) whilst permitting withdrawal of the other data card(s). With the cover member in a second position the data card(s) which were shut off in the first position can be withdrawn from the reader. In terms of the reverse operation of loading the data reader, the cover member in the first position allows uninhibited insertion of one or more data cards into the reader, and in the second position allows insertion of further data cards into the reader into card spaces/areas which were previously blocked by the cover member.
In this way, data cards which are temporarily installed in the reader on a frequent basis can be quickly and easily loaded and unloaded from the reader, and data cards which are to be stored on a relatively more permanent basis (but still requiring loading/unloading albeit infrequently) in the reader can be taken out by simply releasing the cover member from the housing.
Suitably, the cover member is provided with an aperture which when the cover member is disposed in the first position is in alignment with said second data card, thereby allowing retraction thereof. The aperture may be slot in registration with a corresponding slot in the reader having loaded therein the data card.
Conveniently, the data card holder is provided with longitudinally extending slots for receiving said two or more data cards, and the cover member is provided with one or more slots which when the cover member is disposed against said housing are in alignment with one or more of the openings of the longitudinally extending slots of the data card holder.
Advantageously, the radio communication device comprises ejector means arranged to urge the installed data card holder such that on removal of the cover member at least a portion of the data card holder is urged to project through the aperture.
Alternatively, the data card holder and reader are provided with a latching mechanism therebetween that allows the data card holder to be pressed into the reader for connection and then pressed in again for disconnection. This consequently eliminates the need for a separate ejector button and associated componentry to release the holder from the reader. The latching releasably connecting together the holder and reader, the holder having a longitudinal axis indicative of a longitudinal direction and being adapted to be received in the reader, and the latching mechanism being engagable in a latched condition connecting together the holder and reader by pressing the holder in the longitudinal direction into the reader, and being disengagable from the latched condition to release the holder and reader by pressing the holder into the reader in the longitudinal direction, the latching mechanism comprising
a first element having a lateral deflecting surface and detent and being associated with one of the holder or the reader, the lateral deflecting surface being inclined to the longitudinal axis,
a second element associated with the other of the holder or reader, and
resilient means operative on pressing the holder into the reader to urge the holder and reader longitudinally apart, and to effect relative bias in a transverse direction to the longitudinal direction between the first element and the second element, such that on pressing the holder into the reader for connection, the first and second elements and the resilient means cooperate so as to engage the second element with the detent in the latched condition,
and on pressing the holder into the reader for release, the first element disengages from the detent and the resilient means operates to urge at least a portion of the holder from the reader for removal thereof.